net Awards 2014 =============== By Paul Robert Lloyd Sunday, 2 February 2014 [net Awards 2014 nomineeThe net Awards][1] return for their fifteenth year, and I'm more than a little surprised to find myself nominated for *Designer of the Year*. Beyond the other nominees, having worked alongside [James Bates][2]--who has helped me solve a number of tricky design problems over the years--to be included in this line-up feels slightly fraudulent. I suspect this is partly due to [my redesign of 24 ways][3], which launched at the same time nominations were being sought. I had great fun working alongside Drew, Brian, Owen and Anna, and saw first-hand how much work goes into commissioning, producing, editing and publishing the website every December. Its nomination for *Best Collaborative Project* is well deserved, and approaching its tenth year, a win would be a nice way to celebrate that milestone. A few other nominees are worth mentioning. [Clearleft][4] face tough competition if they are to win *Agency of the Year* for a third time, while two events I spoke at last year, [Front-end London][5] and [MK Geek Night][6], are both nominated for *Grassroots Event of the Year*. For *Entrepreneur of the Year*, Simon and Natalie have been nominated for their work on [Lanyrd][7], which was acquired by Eventbrite in September. Words like 'entrepreneur' and 'acquisition' tend to make me a bit ranty, but the way they communicated the purchase is worth commending alone: no '[incredible journey][8]', just [a plain-speaking announcement][9] and a series of API integrations. London's loss is most certainly San Francisco's gain. * * * The merit of awards ceremonies is often discussed ([look no further than this very website][10]), but I think net Magazine have struck the right balance. Their competition has improved year-on-year, especially since they started highlighting emerging talent and dropped inane categories like *Web Personality of the Year*. Events like this are easy to criticise, but [when done right][11], they give us a moment to appreciate an industry we're lucky to be part of. [Voting is open until 24 March][1], with the awards presented on 9 May. [1]: https://thenetawards.com/ [2]: http://clearleft.com/is/james-bates [3]: /2013/12/redesigning_24_ways [4]: http://clearleft.com [5]: http://frontendlondon.co.uk [6]: http://mkgeeknight.co.uk [7]: http://lanyrd.com [8]: http://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com [9]: http://lanyrd.com/blog/2013/eventbrite [10]: http://paulrobertlloyd.com/2013/01/ubelly [11]: http://creativebloq.com/netmag/why-diversity-matters-web-design-industry-11410554